13 August,2024 07:54 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Kirti Surve Parade
With the build-up for Ganeshotsav having begun, a shopkeeper is surrounded by decorations in his store in Crawford Market.
Arhant Joshi, a freestyle skater, won a bronze and a gold medal at the India Skates Game hosted in Coimbatore last weekend. "I was representing Maharashtra in the inline freestyle category, which is an open category that I have been participating in since 2012," the 26-year-old revealed. This, he added, opens the door to the pan-Asia leg of the competition, for which he will give trials in December this year. "Inline freestyle is a kind of a performance. I used 20 cones, 80 cm apart to perform various sequences," he said, adding that he is currently preparing for another international competition in Rome.
What flies without wings? Time. Balram Tiwari, a Hyderabad-based professional and photographer, has attempted to capture the essence of Mumbai. He travelled to popular locations, and tried to uncover its hidden layers. "I feel the city speaks to me," he told the diarist. When asked how it was possible to capture time in a city where everyone's in a rush, he answered "Through my pictures, I want to ask the city the questions no one has the time or energy to ask." Through his documentaries he tried to capture its mundane moments. "I wanted to frame the peace in the chaos," he concluded.
What completes the cycle of a photographer? "Seeing their photographs in print," shared Anurag K, founder of Photowalks Mumbai. The community is hosting their first exhibition, Lensable, at Malad's Infiniti Mall. "We had 1,000 entries from across the country, of which we shortlisted 200. We are expecting four lakh visitors by August 18; we will celebrate World Photography Day a day before the actual date [August 19] at the mall, and announce winners and host workshops," he revealed.
Art is for everyone, but can we say the same about art galleries? "Art galleries are for traditional art enthusiasts, or so we believe," shared artist Trishna Patnaik. After a successful run of her exhibition at a hotel earlier this year, she will now display her artworks at another unconventional location - a café. The aim is to bring art to the people who may find art galleries overwhelming. "Art is like a talk, or stand-up comedy. Instead of people, the artworks do the talking," she suggested. Her exhibition Faces will be on display at The Bagel Shop in Bandra for a month, starting today. "You can look at the faces, be reminded of someone you know, yourself or no one," she said, adding that art can mean different things to people, or it may mean nothing.
K-pop artiste BamBam will host a fan sign event in Mumbai this December, and the Indian fandom is thrilled. "Indian K-pop fandom dreams to see him perform live, which motivated us to organise the event," shared Shital Sikarwar (inset), founder of the organising community, TANI Events and Entertainment. "The fandoms have existed since before 2011, but are now catching the attention of many artistes who are expressing their interest in performing here," she told this diarist.
